Jersey Post has been trialling viable alternative routes from Jersey into Europe for locally-based e-commerce clients, amidst the uncertainty of Brexit.

In 2018, Jersey Post handled 4.7 million items on behalf of Jersey- based e-commerce clients, 4.2 million (90%) of which were destined for dispatch within Europe. The UK’s impending exit from the European Union will impact the current route that these postal items take when they leave Jersey.

At present, all items destined for European delivery leave Jersey and travel north to the UK before accessing Europe via the Channel Tunnel. These items travel as post, which means that they benefit from simplified customs clearance procedures because of Jersey Post’s bilateral agreements with other Universal Postal Union member states. Once Brexit is realised this will become a congested route with risks of considerable delays because of the additional potential border crossing controls, customs clearance and subsequent delays that will jeopardise e-commerce supplier agreements.

In light of the foreseen post-Brexit complications, Jersey Post has recently undertaken a trial with Ferryspeed and Condor Ferries, where a consignment destined for Holland was shipped to St Malo, securely stored overnight before then being Customs cleared and shipped by road to Holland the following day. These items successfully arrived in Holland the next morning, meaning the complete process took just 48 hours door-to-door. This model gives Jersey Post a reliable base to work from over the next few weeks to ensure a robust and resilient solution.

Niall McClure, Jersey Post’s Managing Director for Postal and Logistics, said: “With the level of uncertainty surrounding Brexit showing no sign of slowing, we’ve been working tirelessly to provide our clients with alternative routes into Europe. Whatever the implications of Brexit, we’re confident that we will have solutions in place that will enable locally-based e-commerce businesses to trade freely with EU customers.”

There is also the potential for Jersey Post to access certain French airports direct from Jersey, which could provide a next-day or even same-day mail service for documents and correspondence; something which could be of real interest to financial and legal operations based in Jersey.